The Van Houtte farm in Romeo looks very different than it did at this time last year; the field corn is growing six inches a day, and the vegetable and melon crops look robust.

But George Van Houtte, who farms 550 acres off 33 Mile Road, said it’s been a lot of work maintaining crops in the face of heavy rains that have dropped more than twice the water on southeast Michigan than in a typical year.

“At my last count. I think there’s been 28 inches or rain since April, and that’s a lot to deal with,” said Van Houtte, who said he expects to have a bountiful harvest this year despite the downpours.

“The field corn does well when it’s wet, and the vegetables look pretty good,” he said. “There are always things that you don’t expect in farming; we’re doing fine here because we’ve tiled the ground and we’ve done some irrigation. But some farmers have been devastated.”

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In the farm-centric northern point of Macomb County, many of the fields are a deep, vibrant green that denotes the health of its crops. One some parcels, however, the fields are less healthful.

The rain also affects some crops differently than others; at the Van Houtte farm, workers will begin planting sweet corn that is destined for Macomb County’s table tops, but the weather has prevented the planting of soybeans.

The wet conditions represent a third year of unpredictable weather for the county’s farmers. In 2011 and 2012, extreme weather cycles that brought both drought conditions and frost killed crops all over Michigan, and other Midwestern states. Last year, farmers were so adversely affected by the conditions that the US Department of Agriculture toured drought-affected farms throughout Michigan, Indiana and Ohio to track losses in states hit by blistering heat.

This year, the damage is not expected to be as bad, said Van Houtte.

“If we get some dryness, I think it’ll be fine,” he said. “But if the rain continues, some crops could come in late or not at all.”

Weathering changes

Heather Orow, a meteorologist and forecaster at the National Weather Service in White Lake Township, said the rainfall for the past few months has exceeded normal levels. In June, 6.01 inches of rain fell in southeast Michigan. The normal rain value for the month of June in the region is 2.52 inches, Orow said.

“We were in wet stormy pattern for a few days,” she said. “Most of that rainfall occurred after June 25, because a hot, humid air mass and rounds of showers and thunderstorms occurred during that period of time.”

For farmers, weather has always been something that can be difficult to plan for, Van Houtte said.

“If the land is well-drained, it could look pretty good,” he said. “But I talked to one guy, and he didn’t plant vegetables, and he said it was a good thing because everything would have drowned.”

Fruit growers, because of the times that they plant an how their crops react to wet weather, are less concerned about the rain at this rate, said Abbey Jacobson, the co-owner of Westview Orchards on Van Dyke in Washington Township.

“From what I’ve seen of the tree fruits; I think that they’re going to be fine,” she said. “The ground is well-drained, and soil is in good shape, so I don’t think we’re going to have too much of a problem.”

This week, Westview finished harvesting strawberries and is moving onto Michigan cherries, of which there were few in 2012 because of the weather conditions. The farm’s field corn was planted slightly behind schedule, but more was planted, and warm rain can aid in corn growth, said Jacobson.

Man-made problems

Although farmers have an eye on the weather and rain levels, one problem that could exacerbate the struggles of farmers is the construction on Van Dyke Avenue north of 33 Mile Road, said Van Houtte.

This year, he is moving his market, called Northern Farm Market, from its well-known 35 Mile Road sport to his actual farm on 33 Mile Road, and he’s hoping he won’t lose business because of it.

Whether it’s a man-made problem or an act of God, Van Houtte said Macomb County’s farmers have learned not to lament what they can’t control.